Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. Submission specialist Preston
Parsons is about to join the ranks of the Ultimate Fighting Championship on short
notice. Welterweight Daniel
Rodriguez (14-2) announced on an Instagram story on
Wednesday that his opponent Abubakar
Nurmagomedov was forced out of their July 17 contest. On
Thursday night, MMA
Island was the first to report that Nurmagomedov’s replacement
would be the newcomer Parsons (9-2). The promotion confirmed this
booking on Friday, with the 170-pound bout taking place on
UFC on ESPN 26 inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Parsons makes his way to the UFC with a 100 percent career
submission rate, and his two defeats also came by stoppage. No pro
fight for the Jacksonville Beach, Fla., resident has ever gone past
the 4:26 mark of the second frame, win or lose. Four tapouts on
Combat Night Pro events from 2019 to 2021 gave rise to Parsons
getting the late notice callup to the big leagues. His last time
out, he submitted Jeff
Peterson with an armbar in the second round, making it the
first time he had ever recorded a win outside of Round 1.
The stoppage rate for “D-Rod” is lower than his opponent, at 79
percent, but the Californian has never been finished as a pro. A
victorious showing over Rico
Farrington on the third season of Dana White’s Contender Series did not net him a
contract, although a clobbering of the 15-26 Quinton
McCottrell punched his ticket into a match with Tim Means in
February 2020. Rodriguez tapped Means in the second round, and in
five fights inside the Octagon, he has lost once. Most recently,
the 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu fighter won a decision over Mike Perry
in April.
The UFC on ESPN 26 event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas carries on
with 12 fights, with a significant lightweight clash between
Islam
Makhachev and Thiago
Moises serving as the top billing. The co-main event sees
Miesha
Tate make her return at bantamweight after a retirement and a
four-year layoff against Marion
Reneau, while Jeremy
Stephens takes on Mateusz
Gamrot at lightweight on the main card as well.
